How to take better photos of your pet dog

When you wish to take a better photo of your dog its all about having the photo show the love you have for your pet and the love happiness and playfulness that they have for you. The "how to" below will talk of the technical stuff. Its about taking better pictures of your dog to show it natural happy adventurous spirit. That might be running or running with a ball, at the beach splashing about in the water and so on. To do that you should just let your dog be itself. Sit back and watch and try not to get in its space. Back away and let your photos of your dog be from a dogs eye view.

Be sure to use your dogs toys and playthings. Whatever you do, enjoy learning about your dog and learning how to take a better picture of your adoring pet by letting them be themselves. I wish you all the happiness.

How to take better Dog Photos

They are our best friends, they never cheat, lie or steal. The only thing they are guilty of is unconditional love and loyalty but how many of you struggle to achieve a photo that will do your mate justice. They are always moving too fast, drooling or licking themselves inappropriately. A shot like this one is easier to achieve than you may think however, you will need to be patient, remember the phrase never work with animals or children.

1. When photographing pets timing is very important dependent on the shot you want to catch. A more active photo will be more likely at the beginning of exercise, where a portrait shot is best taken after when your pet is more relaxed.

2. Attach the lens to the camera, remember the lens should have a focal length of 100mm or above, now screw on the UV filter. The UV filter will work as protection for the lens it will also help to remove any heat haze. Now put on your lens hood (also helps to reduce lens flare).

3. See how the background is out of focus in this photo, you will need to use an aperture setting of F5.6 or below (below equals smaller numbers). The smaller the F number the more out of focus the background will become. Having a lower F number will also allow you to have faster shutter speed so you can freeze your dogs action. If this does not make sense to you, then you need to understand more about the relationship between shutter speed and aperture.

4. You can take this photo in manual mode if the lighting scenario is constant and you consider yourself a more advanced photographer, but if there are trees and shadows to contend with then you may want to consider aperture priority mode. This is a creative mode which gives you control over your F stop and the camera takes care of the other setting to achieve the correct exposure.

5. Your ISO should also be set to 100 which will help achieve the best quality snap of your little mate.

AI Servo - This is a very handy setting to use with moving subjects. In this instance it will help you keep your dog in focus as it runs towards you. The technique for most brands of DSLR is to half press the shutter button while focusing on the subject, the focal point will then track the subject automatically, adjusting the focus as it moves around for you. Use this setting in combination with the highest frame rate your camera has for the best chance of capturing that perfect pose.

Note: You will not get this functionality on a point and shoot camera, this is where DSLRs come into their own.

7. Now throw your ball or stick and cross your fingers that your dog comes back with it. If they do make sure you crouch down and fire away. Take a mix of verticals and horizontals until you get a feel of which way works best. Also try to keep a semi-tight crop this will help capture your dogs expression.

Note: Make sure you get low. Getting down to your pets level will produce much stronger images than standing, its what will set your shots apart from the rest.

8. Shoot like no one is watching™

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